Chevron gas stations now contain 10% ethanol?

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I was filling up at my usual chevron gas station today when i noticed something different at the pump, there was a sign on all the pumps that said "may contain 10% ethanol"!? what does this mean? (i know what it actually means, but what's chevron's motives for doing this?)
 
Most of your major cities require it. Most places up North have been using it for years. They say it makes the air cleaner but it sure does not do anything for gas mileage.

Chevron has no motives. I'm sure they would rather make gasoline without it.
 
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it never shows up here in the boonies!
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Stuart: I had my fingers crossed also, but it did not work. Use to be it was just in Milwaukee and Madison, now it's everywhere, or on it's way. Depending on where the gas is formulated, it's just not cost effective to blend ethanol for let's say Dallas and not for Tyler or Lufkin.

What part of Far North East Texas are you in?
 
I live in the tiny town of Lone Star- as the crow flies, it's about 60 mi NNE of Tyler, 30 mi N of Longview, 25 mi SE of Mt. Pleasant, 60 mi SW of Texarkana. The local Chevron station gets their gas from the refinery in Big Sandy, Tx, about 35-40 mi away, towards Tyler. There's another source in Mt. Pleasant, but years ago Bruce got tired of replacing his pump filters so often.
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My car says it's workin', & he gets *lots* of people who tell him their car runs better/gets better mileage on his gas than any other. If you're ever in Lone Star, fill up at White's Chevron station- your car will be glad you did!
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well if what jaj is saying is accurate, then i guess i can live with it. I've read that ethanol is suppose to burn cleaner and cut down carbon monoxide thereby reducing emission. The downside i've heard and read is that it consumes alot of fuel and it may require thinner oil (going by my manual).
 
I noticed a similar sticker on a 76 (Philips) gas station pump. I got back into my car and drove away. It is a Top Tier gasoline nevertheless.
 
quote:

Originally posted by jaj:
"Top-tier" gas REQUIRES a minimum of 8% ethanol.

Cheers
JJ


We had a discussion on this a few months ago, but I can't find the thread. Top Tier fuel itself does not require ethanol, only the base fuel that Top Tier fuel is compared to requires ethanol.
 
GoldenRod - Around where I live (Northern LA) all gas stations are usually the same. It is 76/Philips that is almost always +3-10 cents more expensive than the surrounding gas stations.

In fact, Chevron has a gas station about 2.4 miles away that has the lowest prices within a 50 mile radius.
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Few people know bout this gas station and fill up near the freeway at +10 cents more. heh.

I think California gas has always had 10% Ethanol or 10% of something. My car seems to run better on that stuff - especially when I was in Iowa with their 89 octane 20%? ethanol. I guess some cars just don't like the stuff.
 
Over the past year, I've strictly filled up at Shell b/c I feel like it's the best option around my area. Some places used blended (up to 10%) gasoline/ethanol and I never liked that. Around the first of the year, the Shell stations that I frequent all posted stickers about their gas containing up to 10% ethanol. Although I didn't like it at first, I've realized there's no way to get around it. I don't remember if this is correct or not, but I think a law may have been passed either locally or state-wide about all gases now have to contain an ethanol blend.

I need to round up all my records and see if my gas mileage has decreased. I track every single tank of gas I buy so I should be able to tell. Although, with summer blends coming back, it might offset any drop in MPG that I was getting with the blended stuff.
 
blupupher has it right, and that phase out is due this summer. Rumor is the oil companies do not have enough ethanol to blend and gas prices will rise because of that--even though this has been in the works for some time. I think it is just an excuse to make more money off the public, this ethanol shortage could have, and should have been avoided.
 
toptiregas.com Top Tier is NOT a gov/EPA issue. The Top Tier label has nothing to do with the percentage of ethanol nor is ethanol even required for fuel to meet the standard at the pump. Ethanol fuel is used in the testing standard to get the Top Tier label. Not all 10% ethanol fuels meet the Top Tier standard.
 
The ethanol will show up at more places than it used to because the MTB? additive is being phased out and replaced with ethanol.

I thought the top tier was allowed to have a max of 8%, not a minimum? Nothing on the Conoco pumps here say it has ethanol (the sign is required by law I believe).
 
oli

You're right - not all 8% -10% Ethanol fuels meet the GM-Honda-Toyota-BMW proprietary "top tier" rating. But those that do meet this spec (from the TT site):

1.3.1.2 Base Fuel. The base fuel shall conform to ASTM D 4814 and shall contain commercial fuel grade ethanol conforming to ASTM D 4806. All gasoline blend stocks used to formulate the base fuel shall be representative of normal U.S. refinery operations and shall be derived from conversion units downstream of distillation. Butanes and pentanes are allowed for vapor pressure adjustment. The use of chemical streams is prohibited. The base fuel shall have the following specific properties after the addition of ethanol:

1. Contain enough denatured ethanol such that the actual ethanol content is no less than 8.0 and no more than 10.0 volume percent.

If it's "top-tier" rated, it has ETOH in it!

Cheers
JJ
 
quote:

Originally posted by SSDude:
I noticed a similar sticker on a 76 (Philips) gas station pump. I got back into my car and drove away. It is a Top Tier gasoline nevertheless.

Got news for ya' - you can't buy unoxygenated road fuel anywhere in the SCAQMD, and since MTBE was banned beginning in 2005, guess what that leaves. Start likin' it.
 
quote:

If it's "top-tier" rated, it has ETOH in it!

Cheers
JJ [/QB]

JJ, They are spelling out just how dirty and nasty the base "TEST" fuel has to be to prove that the "additives" will actually work. They must run the test with the untreated nasty fuel that will clog the injectors and then they add their "additives" to that nasty fuel to prove that only one or less injectors become clogged. The actual gas product that is sold doesn't have to be that nasty before the additives are put into the product, but in some locations the gas "may" be that nasty before the additives are put in. Read the entire standard and test procedures.
 
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